I was introduced to Morris dancing in 1959 by Mrs Murray, my teacher at Chingford CE Junior School, otherwise known locally as Kings Road School. Like many teachers of her generation she had attended a training course on folk dancing and morris dancing run by the English Folk Dance and Song Society.
The dance we learnt was Bean Setting, Headington and the music came from a 78rpm record. We were due to perform the dance when we visited High Beach primary school, located in the middle of Epping Forest, for a joint party. Unfortunately I was thrown out of the team for talking during an early practice but on the day of the performance one of the other boys was ill and as I had been watching the practices through the classroom window I knew the dance well enough to be his replacement.
Shortly after that first performance I moved on to grammar school (Chingford County High School) and after one term a new member of staff was appointed to teach Biology. His name was Peter Boyce and one of the first things he did was to ask "Who wants to learn morris dancing?"
And that was the how my lifelong interest and involvement began.